Machinery for breaking pig-iron.



Patented Sept. 2, |902.

No. 708,30I.

` H. BENTLEY.

MACHINERY FDR BREAKING PIG IRON.

3 Sheets-Sheet I.

(Application Bled May 1, 1902.)

f No. 708,30l. Patented Sept. 2, |902. H. BENTLEY.

MACHINERY F08 BREAKING PIG IRON.

(Application mea my 1, 1902.)

(N9 Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Patented sept. 2. |902.

H. BENTLEY. MACHINERY FUR BREAKING PIG IRON.

(Application filed May l, 1902,)

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

we ohms PETERS co.. PHOTO-mwa., wnsuxuufoufmc.

HARRY BENTLEY, OF vWHITEl-IAVEN, ENGLAND.

MACHINERY FOR BREAKING PIG-IRON.

SPECIFICATION forming partei Letters Patent No. 708,301, dated September 2, 1902.

u Application filed May 1, 1902. Serial No. 105,457. (No model.)

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY BENTLEY, a subject of the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Dalegarth Moresby, Whitehaven, Cumberland, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for 'Breaking Pig-Iron, (for which application for patent has been made in Great Britain, No. 25,924, dated December 19, 1901,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machinery for breaking pig-iron and it has for its objects to generally improve and simplify the construction of such machines as a whole and in detail, as regards the latter by providinga simplied horizontal feed-motion for traversing the bed of pigs under the gripping and breaking devices, an improved wedge gripping motion or device for securing the sow during the operation of breaking oft the pigs or of breaking the latter, as well as breaking them oii, and generally improving the machine, so that its strength is increased and the number and weight of the working parts reduced.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention, Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section, Fig. 2 is an end view, and Fig. 3 is a plan, of the improved machine for breaking pig-iron. of the pig-breaker with its actuating connections in a position relative to the raised position of the sow-breaker and clamp shown` at Fig. 1, and Fig. 5A is a detail view of the toothed pawls and wedge-block.

As regards the general arrangement, the

machine is or may be similar to those in common use, and the improvements comprise a` horizontal feeding-table a, fitted with feeding and traversing motions actuated from the main shaft o of the machine through themedium of suitable levers, connecting-rods, and eccentrics, `and reciprocating between two girders or frames c, upon which the bed of pigs d is placed and along which it is carried by the action of the movable table a. The

feed-table ct is 4preferably made in the form 0f a trolley or carriage fitted with wheels c and axles f, the wheels c resting on two rails g, placed horizontally between the two girders or frames c, the said rails g resting upon and Fig. 4 is a detail view `being secured to the upper surface of four eccentric straps or blocks h, which again rest upon and work in conjunction with a number of eccentric sheaves i, preferably four, carried by two shaftsj ,there being two sheaves on each shaft. These shaftsj are Xed horizontally and in a transverse direction underneath the two girders or frames c, to which they are secured by suitable bearings or pedestals 71:, in which the said shafts j are free to rotate. A main standard-casting Z carries an engine, engines, or electric motor or other motive-power mechanism fitted by pret'- erence with reversing-gear secured in a suitable manner and position to the standard. This standard Z also carries the necessary crank or motor-shaft m, the second motionshaft n, the main or eccentric shaft 0, the gearing jo, bearings q, and ram-guides r, and on its lower portion at each side are secured suitable renewable blocks s, on which the bed of pigs rests while undergoing the breaking process. lThe main or eccentric shaft ois fitted with the 'following parts-viz., one sowbreaking eccentric t for breaking the sow by means of a vertical thrust through the medium of an eccentric-strap f and ram e', one pig-breaking eccentric u for breaking one, two, three, or more pigs at once by means of a combined eccentric-strap 'u and rod w, actuating a toggle-lever arrangement 0o,which lmay be madeadjustable by the usual means (not shown) to take any depth of pig. A crank-pin y is placed at a suitable radius in the main gear-wheel e', which is carried on Vthe outer end of the eccentric-shaft o and imparts a reciprocating motion to the table, carriage, or trolley a through the medium of `a connecting-rod z2, pivotally connected to crank-arms y of a rock-shaft as', and a second pair of connecting-rods e", pivotally connected at one end to a second pair of arms y2 of the shaft Qc, the free ends of the rods e' having notches in their lower sides, which engage a cross-bar f, secured to the under side of the table a. (See Figs. 1 and 3.) A similar crank-pin w', itted with a roller and Xed at a suitable radius on the inner side of the main gear-Wheel e, depresses at each revolution an L or other suitably shaped lever o', which lever by means of suitable connecting-rods w partly rotates the two trans- ICO verse eccentric-shaftsj underneath the girders c, thus revolving the ecccntrics t', fixed thereon, and so raising the feed table ct, whereupon a pawl or catch t falls by gravity into a suitable notch or depression in the periphery of a disk-plate s', fixed on the outer end of one of the eccentric-shafts j, and so maintains the table d in its raised position. This said catch or pawl t/ is provided with a projecting arm or pin r, which is engaged by a suitable stop fixed to the travel ing table d,

which strikes said arm or pin r' just before' completingits forward sroke, thus disengaging the catch t from the disk-plate s', leaving the eccentric-shafts j free to revolve and so lower the table by gravity ready for the return stroke. A suitable dashpot arrangement p may be fixed to the side of the frame c and connected by lever o androd n to the eccentric-shaft] to control and cushion the fall of the table a.

Motion is taken by rod g', as will be presently described, from the strap of the sowbreaking eccentric t to actuate a bindingblock fnt, having inclined strips m2 upon its sides engaging inclined recesses m3 in a clamping-block l', (shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1,) to clamp the said block Z' upon the sow to retain the latter during the pig-breaking operation, this motion being transmitted, as indicated at Fig. 1, through the medium of a lever 7c', connected to the wedge m at one end by means ofa pinj and at the opposite end connected to the standardl by means of an adjustable spring t" and guiding eye t. The connection of the connecting-rod g from the eccentric t to this lever 7o is made at any convenient position above or below the spring t, and the effect of the wedge m' upon the block Z/ is such as to depress the latter to clamp the sow and to raise it to admit of the sow being fed forward. After the sow is secured the wedge becomes stationary until the outward stroke, and the action of the eccentric t, rod g', and lever 7c is merely to compress the spring t" during the remainder of the inward stroke. The eccentric-shaft o is fitted with a large spur-wheel and suitable journals.

The binding-wedge m is locked, so as to retain the clamping-block Z in position upon the sow, by means of toothed pawls'it, which drop or are forced by means of springs into engagement with teeth on the upper edge of the binding-wedge block m. These pawls n are so toothed in relation to each other that only one engages with the toothed rack at one time, the object being that a forward adj ustment of the wedge-block may be made equivalent to that obtainable under teeth of one-third the pitch shown,whereby the clamping action of the block Z is made suitable despite irregularity in the height of the sow. The pawls n are raised out of action by means of lever connections o2 from a campiece p2 on one of the gear-wheels of the main shaft m. These pawls fn. are three in number, as shown in Fig. 5, and are placed side by side by a suitable bearing n2 on the frame of the machine. In the upper end of the bearing are placed springs 'm3, one for every pawl, and these springs have their tension controlled by the adjusting-screws n4, mounted in the top of said bearing. The lever o2 is formed as a bell-crank with its horizontal arm extending around the group of pawls n (see Figs. l and 5) and provided with a pin 0'", which extends loosely through alined slots 'n4 in the pawls and by means of which pin 03 the bell-crank lever o2 lifts the pawl that is in engagement with the rack fm'. The teeth of the rack m are so pitched with respect to the lower toothed edges of the pawls n that the teeth of one pawl only can mesh at the same instant with the rack-teeth.

The action of the machine is as follows: The bed of pigs being placed on the girders c, between which the feed-tabled reci procates, it is raised, carried forward, and placed under the breakin g-rani d. The clamp-block Z then descends and secures the sow in position, the clamp-block Z being locked by means of the wedge-block m and pawl n, while the breaking-ram e following breaks off one, two, or more pigs. Then the rams ascend, the sow is released, and the feed-table a, which in the meantime has been carried back to its original position, again brings the bed of pigs forward and the action is repeated. The sow, which was under the wedge-block Z', is now carried forward beneath the sow-breaking ram, the wedge-block grips another portion of the sow, the sow-breaking ram descends and breaks oft' the sow. The feed of the table may be stopped by simply raising the connecting-rod a to disconnect its notch from the cross-bar f. The whole of the machine is secured to a foundation and delivers the broken metal by means of a chute Ct to any desired position.

Having now described the invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A machine for breaking pig-iron comprising in combination with the framing and driving-gear, a main or eccentric shaft, a movable table for supporting and feeding forward the bed of pigs, a crank, levers and rods for traversing the said table, eccentrics and sheaves for raising said table, mechanism for actuating these, a toothed wedgeblock for clamping the pigs, an eccentric rod and lever for actuating said block, toothed pawls for locking the wedge-block, a lever and cam for releasing the pawls 'from the wedge-block, toggle-levers and an eccentric for actuating the pig-breaking ram, and an eccentric for actuating the sow-breaker, substantially as described.

2. In a machine for breaking pigiron,means for supporting and traversing the bed of pigs under the gripping and breaking devices, said means comprising a stationary framing for supporting the bed of pigs during the IOO IIO

breaking operation, a table or trolley for raising and feeding forward the bed of pigs, connections from a crank -on the main shaft of the machine to traverse the table, rails on which the table travels and :eccentric-blocks connected to said rails and fitted with sheaves for raising and lowering the rails and table to permit of the bed of pigs being fed forward and of the table being returned under said bed, substantially as described.

3. In a machine for breaking pigiron,means for locking the clamping-block during the breaking operation comprising a wedge-block, a lever operated from the main shaft and connected to said wedge-block, teeth upon said wedge-block, toothed pawls adapted to engage these teeth, and a lever connected to said pawls and actuated from the main shaft of the machine substantially as described.

4. In amachine for breaking pig-iron means for locking the clamping-block during the clamping operation said means comprising in conjunction with a toothed wedge-block, a series of spring-actuated pawls arranged side by side and each consisting of a plate having one of its edges formed with teeth of similar pitch to the teeth on the Wedge-block, the teeth on each plate being so spaced from its forward side in relation to the adjacent plates that a pawl action is obtained equal to that obtainable by a tooth-pitch of a fraction of that of the wedge-block, said pawls being raised simultaneously from engagement with the wedge-block by levers actuated from the main shaft substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two witnesses.

HARRY BENTLEY.

Witnesses:

WALLACE FAIRWEATHER, JNO. ARMSTRONG, J r. 

